Dial



Patented Aug. 19, 1952 DIAL Eugene St. Pierre, Pawtucket, R. I., assignor to Hemphill Company, Central Falls, It. I., a corporation of Massachusetts Application December 19, 1950, Serial No. 201,597

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an improvement'in the dial for a circular, independent needle, knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type. As is well known, the face of such a dial is provided with a series of radial needle slots extending from a depression in the middle of the dial to its edge. The outer end of each needle slot is enlarged so that, when a needle hook carrying a loop of yarn is drawn into the dial, the yarn will not be cut or abraded by being pinched between the needle hooks and the side walls of the slot. Such an enlargement of each needle slot has been made by iirst cutting the slot of uniform width throughout and then enlarging the outer portion by recutting by a circular saw. Since this cut must be at least as deep as the depth of the slot and since it is made by a circular saw, unavoidably it extends inwardly a considerable distance towards the center of the dial.

In dials having a diameter of, say, 3" and over, the remaining part of the slot and the needle are of sufcient length so that the needle is adequately supported even when projected outwardly to the extreme degree required for transferring. However, in smaller dials, the narrow portion of each slot and the length of the needle are necessarily so limited that the needle may not be adequately supported when it is projected for transferring. The object of this invention is to eliminate this difliculty.

One form of the invention is shown in the drawing of which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a dial;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of a ring which forms a part of the dial; I

Fig. 3 is a plan view of such dial needle slots, the outer ends of which have been enlarged by recutting by a circular saw in accordance with the prevailing practice;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one slot of a similar character showing the nature of the cut made by the circular saW;

Fig. 5 is a plan View of a section of a dial showing three needle slots, the outer ends of which have been enlarged by cutting in accordance with this invention; and

Fig. 6 is a side elevation partly in section of one of these slots showing the nature of the recutting which is to be compared with that of Fig. 4.

As will be seen from Figs. 5 and 6, the outer end of each slot l is enlarged by a cut which passes all the way through the edge of the dial at right angles to the surface of the dial 2 as shown at 3. the edge of the dial, it can be made substantially rectangular in shape and as short as desired. Its actual length will depend upon requirements but the shorter it is, the longer the remaining normal portion of the needle slot remains and the better the support of the dial needle will be.

Since the characteristics of this dial are assumed to be the same as those of the normal dial in other respects the lower end of each enlargement 3 is closed by a ring 4 which is soldered or brazed or attached to the underside of the edge of the dial as best shown in Figs. 1 and 6. This results in a dial of normal type with the exception that the enlargement of the outer end of each slot is of any desired length. Each slot is rectangular and is of uniform depth throughout which makes it possible to adequately support the dialneedle under all operating conditions. This is to be compared with the ordinary type of enlargement illustrated by Figs. 3 and 4 in which it will be seen that it is deepest at the extreme edge 5 of the dial, grows progressively shallower and also, is necessarily, of excessive length so that an undesirable length of needle slot is consumed.

I claim:

1. A dial for a knitting machine which comprises a circular member having radial needle slots of uniform cross section each of which terminates at a recess of greater width than said slot cut entirely through the edge of said member and an annular member closing the bottoms of said recesses.

2. A dial for a knitting machine which comprises a circular member having radial needle slots of uniform cross section each of which terminates at a recess of greater width and depth than said slot cut entirely through the edge of said member and an annular member closing the bottoms of said recesses.

EUGENE ST. PIERRE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 611,751 Gearhart Oct. 4., 1898 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 620,351 Great Britain Mar. 23, 1949 Since it passes all the way throughl 

